As we are into summer now there are going to be millions of people across the world who are running to theme parks for their family vacations. Theme parks have had a boom in the past few years as many families were hit by the economic crisis and instead of traveling across the country for an expensive beach vacation they decided to just hit the closest theme park. In this article I will help you save money on theme parks with tips on everything from how to get cheaper tickets to your favorite theme park to saving money once you inside the park.
First things first the biggest expense most will have at the theme park is the tickets. Tickets for theme parks such as Busch Gardens, Kings Island, Cedar Point, and so on are in the mid-range and will run you anywhere from $20 a ticket clear up to $150 a ticket. When buying tickets you always want to buy in advance and buy online. If you buy your tickets at the gate you are going to look for at least a 10% mark-up, if not even higher. You also don't want to buy your tickets from a local gas station or grocery store as many times they will also mark up the price a good amount because lets face it, everyone has to make something off of the sale including that store. So buy your tickets in advance online through an online travel company or the theme park direct because you can save a few dollars.
When buying the tickets from an online travel website you will see they may have a slight markup but to take care of this we simply search out coupons and promo codes for that website. There are many places online where you can find coupons so doing this search isn't going to be tough. These promo codes will get you a percentage off of the price shown and in some cases you can even get tickets for next to nothing if you also use a rental car or get a hotel when staying near the amusement park or theme park. So now we have already saved big on the tickets which is going to be one of the main expenses if you don't have to travel a far distance to get to the park.
Where many end up getting caught is buying more things when they are inside the park including food, gifts, and some even trying out the extra carnival games. For instance the cure to not eating in the park is to simply grab a meal before you go. Eating at any fast food restaurant or casual restaurant is going to be much cheaper than if you feed your family inside the park. Not only are the vendors charging $6 for a hot dog but even the name brand restaurants inside the park have higher prices than outside the park. This is of course mostly common sense so most will already know this tip and probably already use it to some degree.
Like I said before tickets are where you are going to get hit so checking out multiple sources online is key in finding a deal. Never buy your tickets at the gate because they know they can charge you much more because you are already there and more than likely aren't going to leave unless the tickets cost hundreds of dollars each. So buy online at many different places including places like Priceline, Orbitz, or Travelocity who all carry theme park tickets from Busch Gardens and Cedar Point to Disney World. If your park has a website where they sell tickets then many times you can get them the cheapest there unless you are also going to need a hotel then the travel websites will end up bundling the tickets and hotel together for a much cheaper rate. This was an article on how to save money at a theme park so use these tips to save a few dollars this summer.
Martin Wynn
